MANILA (AFP) - The Philippines plans to impose wider limits on fish catches for up to two years to allow depleted stocks to recover, an official said on Tuesday.
The plan would force the government to allow more imports to meet demand, said Bureau of Fisheries assistant director Benjamin Tabios.
'We want to reduce the catching of fish in the next two years so that stocks will recover in order to protect our food security,' he told AFP.
'Importation will take up the slack.' Philippine fishery output dropped 4.1 per cent from a year earlier in 2011, suggesting depletion of stocks, he said, while growth had been slowing in previous years.
